New documentary on tar sands by local filmmaker premiers June 9 at Hollywood Theater

Did you know International Stop the Tar Sands Day is June 18?What exactly are tar sands, you ask? I wasn’t sure either. Tar sands, or oil sands, are a mix of clay, sand, water and bitumen, a heavy viscous oil. That oil-rich bitumen can then be refined into oil. Anyway, tar sands mining exacts a heavy environmental toll, and many want it stopped including Portland filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer Trip Jennings. His documentary, SPOIL, will premier at the Hollywood Theater June 9 in honor of International Stop the Tar Sands Day. The film tells the story of the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia and the threat a proposed oil pipeline from the Alberta tar sands poses. It’s a pristine coastline and indigenous communities and environmental activists contend the “Northern Gateway Pipeline” and the attendant tanker traffic would ruin the ecosystem and the coastal people’s way of life. The film premiers June 9. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the 44-minute film beginning at 7:30 p.m. Afterwards, Jennings will hold a question and answer session with an indigenous community member in the film, Marven Robinson, who will participate via video conference. Admission is free, again in honor of International Stop the Tar Sands Day.